Wes Anderson Trailer from Alex Cornell on Vimeo.
Alex Cornell, Academy of Art University School of Graphic Design student, created a trailer that had the internet buzzing and Wes Anderson fans raving with excitement, thinking that the director was to have a film festival this October in Texas, until they realized it was actually a student project from Hunter Wimmer's Integrated Communications class.
"The project," says Cornell, "was to create a hypothetical film festival centered around a director of our choice. We had to design all of the collateral that would support the festival; posters, catalogs, tickets, schedules, signage, products, a website, trailer, and DVD packaging. The style was to be reminiscent of the director without copying the existing visual branding that surround the films."
The trailer follows a short history of T. Allen Fenway (local SF actor, Phil Mills) who, late in his life, refused to leave his house much, except of course, to go to the Wes Anderson Film Festival. "We wanted the trailer to remind you of Wes Anderson, make you laugh, and eventually turn you on the the festival."
The trailer can be found all over the internet, from movie websites such as Cinematical, to Wes Anderson fansites such as Rushmore Academy. The other promotional materials Alex Cornell designed for the fictional Wes Anderson Film Festival is hosted (and has been featured) on the Behance Network and observed on Design Observer.
DVD sleeves Alex Cornell designed for the faux Wes Anderson Film Festival.
In the beginning of his project, Cornell had a few directors in mind, but chose to center his project around Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited) for many reasons. "First of all I like every one of his films, which I can't say for any other director. His films are packed with beautiful imagery and all adhere to his very distinctive visual tendencies and style. Second, I love the world his stories take place in; everything is so quirky and weird in just the right way and I enjoy watching characters of such familiar strangeness fumble their way around. I also love how involved he is in all of the film's creation, from every standpoint. He really owns his work."
Cornell felt that Wes Anderson's films seemed to have the most exciting and appealing visual possibilities in terms of what he could create for the promotional material. To achieve a style that is similar to Wes Anderson's, he chose to use tilt-shift photography and the director's typaface of choice, Futura Bold. "The use of Futura Bold is a direct tip of the hat to his style, and is recognizable to anyone familiar with his work," said Cornell.
Billboard designed by Cornell advertising the film festival.
To hear more about the process behind the project, and Cornell's own observations, visit the following links:
1. ISO50 blog post: Art of the Title Sequence
2. ISO50 blog post: Process Post / Student Project
3. ISO50 blog post: Festival Project Process / Stickers
4. ISO50 blog post: Wes Anderson Trailer / Student Project
5. ISO50 blog post: Film Festival Project Completion
Comments